Suicide Squad

Few weeks ago we gave you the basics of Suicide Squad. This week, we’ll delve into the characters and their actors…

The Director
It was announced back in September 2014 that David Ayer will helm Suicide Squad. Ayer is most famous for directing films like Street Kings and End of Watch. Most recently, 2014 saw the release of his World War II drama Fury, which followed tank operators during the final days of war in Europe, as well as the over-the-top violent cop drama Sabotage. In addition to directing, Ayer – who previously penned scripts for movies like Training Day, The Fast and the Furious and SWAT – also wrote Suicide Squad. As you can tell, his resume is primarily based around action movies, so he seems like an ideal fit for this film. During pre-production and filming, Ayer used social media to give fans looks behind the scenes, from shots of unique weapons to teasing a certain Batman-related locations.

Captain Boomerang
George ‘Digger’ Harkness became a skillful boomerang thrower while growing up in Australia. He originally used this talent as a performer, but later started committing crimes. Although he’s been a frequent adversary of The Flash, Boomerang is also well-known for being a regular member of the Suicide Squad. In the early Suicide Squad stories from 1980s, his personality and racist comments often drew the ire of his teammates. He also had a tendency to sit back and watch when things got ugly out in the field, happy to just watch the mayhem. The footage we’ve seen certainly suggests that this is the version of the character that we will be seeing on the big screen.
Warner Bros. has wisely picked an Australian actor to play Boomerang. Jai Courtney, whose work includes Divergent, A Good Day To Die Hard and Terminator Genisys, will portray the villain in Suicide Squad. This is the second live-action portrayal of the character following his recent appearances in Arrow Season 3, where he was portrayed as a former Task Force X agent and played by Nick Tarabay.
Stay tuned folks, more to come…

Harley Quinn
She was created specifically for Batman: The Animated Series in 1992, and 24 years later Harley Quinn is finally making her live-action film debut. Originally a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum, Dr. Harleen Quinzel was corrupted by The Joker and became his assistant/girlfriend. Although Harley has primarily been a Batman character, recent years have seen her branching out into other corners of the DC universe. It was during the New 52 re-launch of DC Comics that she was added onto the Suicide Squad, and she’s been one of its primary members ever since. Harley’s only other live-action appearance was in the short-lived TV series Birds of Prey, and it’s probably best that we forget about that.
Margot Robbie plays Harley, and based on the footage that we’ve seen it appears as though she is ready to steal Suicide Squad with her performance. Her costume is not only a great live-action adaptation of her gear from the comics, but her mannerisms and voice are great matches to her cartoon counterpart as well. Robbie’s performance is easily one of our most anticipated aspects of the film, and the The Wolf of Wall Street star looks like she’s ready to deliver. Ayer has also been putting a lot of thought into what drives Harley’s madness, so we can take comfort knowing she won’t be a one-dimensional player.

Enchantress
Of all the Suicide Squad members, Enchantress is the arguably the least well-known. In the comics, June Moore was a normal teenage girl who was at a costume party at the Terror Castle. After discovering a secret passage, she finds a demon who tells her that she’s going to become a mystical hero. When she says the word ‘Enchantress’, she transforms into a black-haired, costumed hero with magical abilities. However, despite the demon’s proclamation, June’s mind eventually snapped, and she became a criminal. This led to her joining the Suicide Squad, as she believed they would be able to help her keep the villainous side in check.

Enchantress will be played by actress/model Cara Delevingne, who was originally rumoured to play Harley Quinn before the official cast was announced. The English model’s previous work includes Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina and The Face of an Angel. At this point, not much is known about Enchantress’ part in Suicide Squad, though the footage suggests that June Moore will go through her origin story while spelunking, instead of during a costume party. Rick Flag says that she is possessed by a witch in the cast rundown, so we’ll just have to assume that’s fairly accurate.

The Joker
In 2016, Jared Leto will become the fourth person to play Batman’s greatest enemy on the big screen – following in the footsteps of Caesar Romero, Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger. We don’t yet know the specifics of how The Joker will fit into the plot of Suicide Squad, but the actor has enough experience playing unusual roles (like Mark David Chapman and Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club) that it’s safe to assume this will be doable. His Suicide Squad co-stars have said he tried his hand at method acting for the role of Joker, and from what we’ve seen of him so far, it looks like he’ll be terrifying.

In the trailer from San Diego Comic-Con 2015, it was suggested that Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller has thrown The Joker into a hole and thrown away the hole – however, all of the other footage that’s been provided of Leto in character features him out and about. It’s very possible that Joker will be locked away for a good deal of the film, and that the footage showing him outside of a cage is all from flashbacks.

Rick Flag
In order to keep this team of villains in check while in the field, you need a disciplined soldier leading that charge. That’s where Rick Flag comes in. A former Special Forces operative with a strategic mind, Flag has led several iterations of the Suicide Squad during the decades. He’ll do whatever it takes to make his country proud, even if it means having to work with these detestable villains. Flag has appeared in shows like Justice League Unlimited and Smallville, as well as the animated movie Justice League: The New Frontier.
Originally Tom Hardy was supposed to play Flag, but he was forced to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. Other actors that were being looked to take his place included Jake Gyllenhaal, Joel Egerton and Jon Bernthal, but ultimately it was The Killing and Robocop actor Joel Kinnaman who landed the role. The most recent trailer certainly suggests that he will be calling all of the shots during the Suicide Squad’s mission, and that he has no patience for craziness.